ISGP Staff

Dr. Barbara Weber is a Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and an Associate of the UBC Philosophy Department.  Dr. Weber has a PhD in Philosophy, Psychology and Education from the Ludwig-Maximillian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany.   She was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Regensburg before she moved to Vancouver in 2013. During her graduate studies at LMU she worked as a performance artist, choreographer, and dancer of ballet, German expressionist dance, Bharatanatyam and Butoh. In her performance works, she combined poetry and philosophical aphorisms with embodied ‘answers’ conveyed through the dancer’s movements. In her research, she is particularly interested in philosophical, psychological and pedagogical theories around rationality, empathy, embodiment and Human Rights.  Her philosophical background is in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the Frankfurt School.  She is a co-director of the Vancouver Institute for Philosophy for Children and the founder of the interdisciplinary “Engaged Philosophical Inquiry Consortium” (EPIC) that meets once per semester at UBC. It brings together scholars from various disciplines at local universities and colleges, school practitioners and graduate students.

Barbara is very excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to take over the chair position for the ISGP. She looks forward to working with the ISGP students and their committees, learning about their research questions as well as supporting them in their projects. She is particularly interested in creating a supportive and inspiring student community as well as continuing Hillel Goelman’s efforts to engage students through the student-edited on-line journal, Cutting Edge as well as the student research conference, Out of the Box. She is also planning to establish a Philosophical Café, a series of Salon events, and a performance art project to raise the visibility of the ISGP at UBC.

Barbara is very grateful for the work of all of the previous ISGP Chairs and Deans of the Faculty of Graduate Studies since the ISGP was founded in 1971 and hopes to continue and deepen their efforts.

Selected Publications:

Single-Authored Books:

Weber, B. (2013). Zwischen Vernunft und Mitgefühl: Jürgen Habermas und Richard Rorty im Dialog über Wahrheit, politische Kultur und Menschenrechte [Between rationality and sympathy: Jürgen Habermas and Richard Rorty on human rights, political culture and truth]. Freiburg, Germany: Alber Publisher (324 pages).

Weber, B. (2013). Vernunft, Mitgefühl und Körperlichkeit: Eine phänomenologische Rekonstruktion des politischen Raumes [Reason, empathy and embodiment: Towards a phenomenological reconstruction of public space]. Freiburg, Germany: Alber Publisher (226 pages).

Weber, B. (2013). Philosophieren mit Kindern zum Thema Menschenrechte: Vernunft und Mitgefühl als Grundvoraussetzungen einer demokratischen Dialogkultur [Philosophizing with children about human rights: Rationality and empathy as preconditions for a democratic dialogue culture], Freiburg, Germany: Alber Publisher (258 pages).

Weber, B. (2003). Leib-Erleben und Körperwahrnehmung als Faktoren beruflicher Professionalität. Leibphänomenologische Theoreme der französischen Intersubjektivitätsphilosophie (J.-P. Sartre, M. Merleau-Ponty, E. Lévinas) in kritischer Diskussion mit den Frankfurter Körperkonzeptskalen (FKKS) [The influence of body perception on the development of communication skills in teachers. Phenomenological theorems of french phenomenology (Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Lévinas) in a critical discussion with the body-concept-scales (FKKS)], Regensburg, Germany: Roderer Publisher (330 pages).

Edited Books:

Marsal, E., Weber, B., & Gardner, S.T. (Eds.). (2013). Respect: How do we get there? A Philosophical Inquiry. Münster, Germany: Lit Publisher (184 pages).

Herb, K., Glaser, J., Weber, B., Marsal, E., & Dobashi, T. (Eds.). (2013). Narratives, dreams and imaginations: Israeli and German youth imagine the future. Münster, Germany: Lit Publisher (208 pages).

Weber, B., Herb, K., Marsal, E., Dobashi, T., & Schweitzer, P. (Eds.). (2011). Cultural politics and identity: Towards a public space of recognition. Münster. Germany: Lit Publisher (256 pages).

Weber, B., Marsal, E., & Dobashi, T. (Eds.). (2011). The politics of empathy: New interdisciplinary perspectives on an ancient phenomenon. Münster. Germany: Lit Publisher (144 pages).

Marsal, E., Dobashi, T., & Weber, B. (Eds.). (2009). Children philosophize worldwide: International theories and practical concepts. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang Publisher (683 pages).

Marsal, E., Dobashi, T., Weber, B., & Lund, F.G. (Eds). (2007), Ethische Reflexionskompetenz im Grundschulalter: Konzepte des Philosophierens mit Kindern [Ethical and critical thinking in elementary school children. Concepts of philosophizing with children]. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang Publisher (448 pages).

Weber, B., Stalla, B., & Merkel-Trinkwalder, P. (Eds.). (2005). Phänomenologische Dimensionen der Bildungsanthropologie. Interdisziplinäre Forschungsbeiträge im Fokus ethischer Verantwortlichkeit [Phenomenological dimensions of education. Interdisciplinary research projects with a focus on ethical responsibility]. Regensburg, Germany: Roderer Publisher (334 pages).

Selected Book Chapters:

Weber, B. (accepted). From Having a Body to Being Embodied: Phenomenological Theories on Embodiment by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean-Paul Sartre (37 pages). In H. L. McBride & J. K. Kwee (Eds.), Embodiment and Eating Disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention, and Treatment. New York: Francis & Taylor Publisher (37 pages).

Weber, B. (accepted). Phenomenology as a method for facilitating philosophical inquiry with children: Assumptions, approaches and aspirations. In N. Fletcher (Ed.), Philosophy for Children from a Canadian Perspective. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press (12 pages).

Weber, B. & Wolf, A. (2016). Questioning the question: How to cultivate philosophical questioning in a community of inquiry. In M. Gregory, J. Haynes, & K. Murris (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children. London: Routledge Publisher (8 pages).

Selected Journal Articles:

Aslanismehr, P., Weber, B., Marsal, E. (submitted). ‘Nature takes and nature gives’: A qualitative comparison between Canadian and German children about their concepts of nature. Childhood & Philosophy.

Evers, S., Vadeboncoeur, J. & Weber, B. (2015). Situating children’s rights in cultural perspectives on childhood: Intermedial dialogue. Canadian Journal of Children’s Rights, 2 (1), 48-71.

Weber, B. (2013). Philosophieren mit Kindern: Wieso, Weshalb, Wozu? Über das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen philosophischem und pädagogischer Anspruch in Auseinandersetzung mit Pierre Hadot [Philosophy with children: Why and what for? About the tension between philosophical and pedagogical expectations – in dialogue with Pierre Hadot]. Pädagogische Rundschau, 67 (6), 623-635.